Of course, thats also my point. The anti virus worked. The comment isnt about the signature, and I know you werent saying the virus actually infected your computer. Thats a way I personally havent seen anyone try to spread nasties, and its always good to know. My point is that the anti virus worked. I trust my security suite, and it seems to protect me well enough. Combined with good practices, I am simply trying to say that surfing the net is not all that dangerous, and I think some people go a little overboard on security:)

If you listened to everybody,you would have that many security programs install,it would take forever booting up and running scans and updating them all the time. Manual updates I am refering to.I am not in favour of scare tactics,regarding surfing the Net. Just an honest accessment of the dangers and keep everything in perspective.What I would appreciate, is a Maintainance Schedule of some kind,for Novices to follow.OK saying, do this and do that,but how often?The only way we learn is to discuss these things in Detail.My Security Programs.1 Antivirus program, with full time guard3 AntiSpyware programs,1 with full time guardMy Maintainance Shedule.Run Disc Cleanup DailyRun AntiSpware Scans Daily Reboot once DailyRun Disc Defrag once a monthDedust Tower every 2 weeksRun Antivirus once a weekRun Reg Cleaner once a monthI am on the Computer, average of 12-16 hrs Daily. Addicted.Like opinions, on whether I am short in any areas, and also in the maintainance area.

You are doing exactly what I did.When I was at University, the computing benchmarks were the Tandy TRS-80 and one of the very first Apple Computers.It took 40 minutes to load a simple grid game from cassette tape..which I assume was called Star Trek as the enemies were Klingons lol.I didn't think this would catch on, so I moved in a different direction academically!Many years later, whilst walking down the street and being besieged with http://www.wowthatlooksinteresting.com signs, I made a decision to buy a computer, get online, and learn. That was only 6 years ago. I now write websites, fix and build computers, and have a pretty thorough knowledge of both XP and hardware. I've never had a lesson until I took up fulltime studies in IT last year. The first year of study has taught me nothing that I didnt already know, so I am looking forward to something more challenging this year.I am totally hooked!The way I learned is by making the mistakes myself and finding a way to deal with them. I've destroyed computers completely trying to do things that I wasnt sure of. Throughout, I have found a lot of help in forums like this one. It looks like you are going down the same road 🙂Let me know if you need help when you build your first website ! 😉A reasonably good antivirus and separate anti-spy is fine. In this case, you would of course also use Windows Firewall.I scan daily, its a combined scan because I have a suite but if I had separate programs I would run both daily. This isnt necessary really, once a week is probably fine for both. I just like to keep the computer awake while I have a bath 😉I turn my computer on when I wake up, and off again when I sleep. Rebooting is only necessary if you have a reason - ie the computer is freezing or you have installed software which requires a reboot or something. I was thinking a bumper sticker *I DEFRAG DAILY* would sell well, what do you think? Every couple days would be good for me though lol. Once weekly I would suggest rather than monthly were I you.Dedust the tower, especially any filters, as often as it needs. A routine can be a good idea I agree.I have never run Reg Cleaner or anything like it. I depend on my security suite to protect me, I think twice before I install things, and generally try to observe good habits. I dont think there is a lot more you can do really without getting obsessed about it. If you are happy with what you are doing, and its working for you, then you are doing fine 🙂Some may disagree with my version of O/S maintenance but here it is. At least once a year, I remove all the files I want, one at a time, onto DVD. I leave behind the rubbish I have accumulated. I make backups of all my settings, bookmarks, email folders, and anything else I need. Then I reinstall Windows, update , put all my stuff back, and have a nice clean new Windows installation into which I can install my current favourite programs.

An excellent Post dak and clearly explained.Thankyou.I forgot to mention the Firewall.(Long Day)I have been using Sygate,because I find it user friendly and is a two way Firewall.I know it's no longer supported,and I ran 2 Firewall Tests,both came throught with flying colours,as they say.Is this OK to use Sygate,seeing no longer supported? If not I will use the Windows Firewall,and take the risk of anything phoning home.Tried a number of other Firewalls and found them annoying.As far as defragging,I read in many Forums,it is hard on the H/Drive, if you do it too often,as it shufles all the files around pretty aggressively.That's why I only do it once a month.Yet there are Defragging Programs that automatically defrag all the time.What's your opinion on auto Defraggers?I have been using JK Defrag and it seems to do the job nicely.I am very Security minded,but not Paranoid,that's why I ask questions,and at the same time, Members learn from your replies,as well as myself. 🙂

This has really turned into an interesting thread, I hope that the guest that happen by are learning something.I am not certified like our guru dak, but I do remember the Tandy day's and the dreaded "Syntax Error", anyway back to the futureAs far as system security and protection you wont get any arguments from me on what each person chooses to use or do. My point about on line scans was this they are a valuable part of keeping things clean and running well, but are by no means the only thing you should use nor should they be relied upon or the results taken as gospel.I do feel that if your looking for a particular virus or variant such as a root kit then a scan specifically designed for that particular problem is a good thing to run. The physical maintenance routine of any system is a must how often done should be related to your environment, if you live in an area that is dry and dusty or if you happen to be a smoker then obviously you need to do your maintenance more often.Yikes more later I am late gettng out the door for workBear

Clicking on anything on the internet can be dangerous for your computer..we really do not know what is behind a link...AAAHHHH They can be masked in so many ways...and just mentioning this particular incident has sparked some great responses...Thanks for all the fantastic info guys... I am sure all computer users will love to read the juicey bits on this page. I know I am finding it great reading..Thanks DSTM for making an interesting post as usual..

in my experience, most online scanners are there solely to sell their product, the majority of them will show “false” positives..ie. hits from other security software and very few will actually remove the offender, mostly they try to sell you…after 15 years on pc's i recently switched to a mac and I LOVE IT microsoft has alot to learn, but to protect yourself online the easiest way is to control your surfing habits. as far as my software i found eset nod 32 internet security suite to be far superior, it includes a firewall and has default firewall setting as well as notices upon allowing someone or something to connect to your pc…for spyware protection i used webroot spysweeper as my active scan and i also scanned with malwarebytes and always had a copy of hijack this. as far as cleaning i NEVER used my default windows defrag utulity and instead ran an active defragging system called Executive Diskeeper, but by you'll remain safest by controlling your surfing habits and not blindly clicking links